France Moves Towards Deposit-Based Glass Recycling Scheme

After limited trials in Paris, France is expanding tests of its glass-return scheme in four regions. If it proves successful, a national roll-out is expected.

Reading time: 1m

Returning a wine bottle. (Photo: Midjourney AI)
Returning a wine bottle. (Photo: Midjourney AI)

From June 12, people living in four regions of France - Normandy, Pays de la Loire, Brittany, and Hauts-de-France  - will be introduced to a trial recycling scheme for glass bottles and jars. Shoppers at chains including Carrefour, Intermarché, Leclerc, and Monoprix will have the option to buy returnable products with a purple ‘Rapportez-moi’ (return-me) sticker. When they bring them back, they will get a €0.10 or €0.20 voucher or payment to their account, depending on the size and weight of the container. It is expected that these figures will rise by the end of the year.

Wine will be included, along with beer, soups and fruit juice, but a broad roll-out will depend on the glass containers being standardised.

The project, which is run by the French not-for-profit organisation Citeo is partly modelled on Germany’s 22-year-old DRS scheme, the world’s largest and most efficient, which claims a 98% return rate on eligible single-use drink containers. If the French trial is successful, the scheme will be rolled out nationally.

Too early for the UK

The French model of testing the concept before launching it contrasts directly with the one adopted in the Scotland where an apparently sophisticated scheme had to be cancelled after a dispute with the UK government. There were plans to relaunch it this year, but it is now clear that its supporters will have to wait until October 2027, when it will also be introduced in England and Northern Ireland. The Welsh authorities are still deliberating over whether to join in.

 

 

Latest Articles